lima-vm/lima · error

currently Windows guest OS is only supported on QEMU

Error message

currently Windows guest OS is only supported on QEMU

What it means

Returned when the instance config requests a Windows guest OS, which only the QEMU driver currently supports, not krunkit.

Source

Thrown at pkg/driver/krunkit/krunkit_driver_darwin_arm64.go:249

		return err
	}

	if cfg.MountType != nil && (*cfg.MountType != limatype.VIRTIOFS && *cfg.MountType != limatype.REVSSHFS) {
		return fmt.Errorf("field `mountType` must be %#q or %#q for krunkit driver, got %#q", limatype.VIRTIOFS, limatype.REVSSHFS, *cfg.MountType)
	}

	if cfg.TPM != nil && *cfg.TPM {
		return errors.New("field `tpm` is not supported in krunkit driver")
	}

	if cfg.NestedVirtualization != nil && *cfg.NestedVirtualization {
		if macOSProductVersion.LessThan(*semver.New("15.0.0")) {
			return errors.New("nested virtualization requires macOS 15 or newer")
		}
	}

	if cfg.OS != nil && *cfg.OS == limatype.WINDOWS {
		return errors.New("currently Windows guest OS is only supported on QEMU")
	}

	return nil
}

func isFedoraConfigured(cfg *limatype.LimaYAML) bool {
	for _, b := range cfg.Base {
		if strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(b.URL), "fedora") {
			return true
		}
	}
	for _, img := range cfg.Images {
		if strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(img.Location), "fedora") {
			return true
		}
	}
	return false
}

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Switch the instance to the QEMU driver for Windows guests
2. Use a Linux guest with krunkit

Example fix

// before (lima.yaml)
os: windows
vmType: krunkit
// after
os: windows
vmType: qemu

if os == "windows" && vmType != "qemu" {
    return errors.New("windows guests require vmType qemu")
}

When it happens

Trigger: Setting `os: windows` in lima.yaml with vmType krunkit, then validating or starting the instance.

Common situations: Attempting to run Windows ARM VMs with krunkit; copying a Windows QEMU config and only changing vmType.

Related errors

• invalid network spec %+v
• field `mountType` must be %#q or %#q for krunkit driver, got
• field `tpm` is not supported in krunkit driver
• --condition=boot is only supported on macOS
• failed to register instance %#q to start at login: %w

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4389dd31c46a7e0f. Report an issue: GitHub.